Purpose
This article describes satisfaction that persons with mild cognitive impairment (PwMCI) and their caregivers had with the Daily Enhancement of Meaningful Activity (DEMA) intervention.
Methods
...This randomized controlled pilot study compared satisfaction (usefulness, ease of use, and acceptability) with DEMA (n = 17 dyads) to an information support (IS) control group (n = 19 dyads). Six biweekly sessions (two in person and four by telephone) were delivered by trained nurses. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, independent‐sample t tests, and content analysis.
Findings
PwMCI receiving DEMA rated their satisfaction significantly higher (p = .033) than did the control group; there was no difference in satisfaction between caregivers across groups. Qualitative interview data supported the usefulness, ease of use, and acceptability of DEMA for both PwMCI and caregivers.
Conclusions
Results documented PwMCI's satisfaction with DEMA as implemented by nurses to support PwMCI–caregiver dyads’ engagement in meaningful activity. DEMA may need revision to increase satisfaction for caregivers.
Clinical Relevance
The DEMA intervention was evaluated as useful, easy to use, and acceptable to PwMCI and their caregivers based on positive mean ratings. The study findings provide preliminary support of DEMA as a means to improve quality of life by helping to support patient and caregiver engagement in meaningful activities and problem solving.
AIM
Clinical nurse specialist (CNS) students at an urban Midwestern university participated in a study to describe their satisfaction with civic engagement (CE) learning activities.
METHODS
A ...descriptive and cross‐sectional study design housed a faculty‐developed CE learning module with four learning activities: (a) gaining interprofessional collaborative practice leadership experience in a mock incident command experience; (b) identifying, researching, and writing a legislative letter about an area of public and/or health policy concern; and (c) developing a professional online network LinkedIn account with experienced CNSs; (d) identifying potential mechanisms for achieving board membership on a civic or professional nursing organization. Faculty developed an online survey to determine student satisfaction through quantitative and qualitative data. Participants completed the survey at the end of the course.
RESULTS
Satisfaction with CE learning activities ranged from a mean of 6.07 to 6.75 on a 7‐point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating more satisfaction. The overall mean score for CE activities was 6.27 (SD = 0.61) and mean score for course objectives’ satisfaction was 6.55 (SE = 0.70). Students reported high satisfaction with their learning as a result of the CE activities.
CONCLUSIONS
CNS students perceived high satisfaction with learning from the CE activities in this study.
A nurse-led intervention, Daily Engagement of Meaningful Activities (DEMA), was evaluated for feasibility and effect sizes in a two-group randomized pilot study with 36 patient-caregiver dyads (17 ...DEMA and 19 attention control). Effect sizes were estimated on 10 outcomes: dyad functional ability awareness congruence; patients' meaningful activity performance and satisfaction, confidence, depressive symptoms, communication satisfaction, physical function, and life satisfaction; and caregivers' depressive symptoms and life changes. High feasibility of DEMA was supported by the following indicators: consent (97.7%), session completion (91.7%), and Time 3 measure completion (97.2%). Compared to the attention control group, the DEMA group had higher dyad congruence in functional ability awareness and life satisfaction 3 months post-intervention and improved physical function at 2 weeks post-intervention. Although DEMA showed high feasibility and benefits on some health-related outcomes, further testing of DEMA in a larger randomized controlled clinical trial is needed.
As the older adult population increases, it is imperative to increase older adults' opportunities for social involvement, thus maintaining their important roles and contributions to society. While ...there are known health-related benefits of volunteerism among older adults, a dearth of information exists on the perceived benefits of volunteerism among low-income and ethnic minority older adults.
To understand the perceived psychosocial benefits of volunteering in the Senior Companion Program and to present findings of focus groups conducted with urban-dwelling, low-income older adult women volunteers.
Inductive content analysis and the Dedoose qualitative data analysis software were used for analyzing data obtained from 59 older adult women Senior Companions who participated in nine focus groups.
Content analyses of the focus group transcripts identified four major themes: (1) Reducing social isolation; (2) Improving quality of life; (3) Finding purpose and meaning; and (4) Increasing understanding of aging. The majority of our participants (81%) were African American women, with a mean age of 70 years. Approximately 83.1% had completed high school and 62.7% lived below the poverty line.
Findings provided data rich in descriptions of positive psychosocial outcomes, finding meaning and purpose, and a better understanding of aging in urban-dwelling, low-income older women volunteers. The findings also provide support for the need for policies and programs that promote civic engagement in this population.
The purpose of this pilot was to evaluate the acceptability, feasibility, and potential benefits of the multicomponent, Daily Enhancement of Meaningful Activity (DEMA) intervention, which was ...tailored to help couples facing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) work together to meet goals, remain engaged in meaningful activities, and adapt to changes over time. Using a single-group design, 10 individuals with MCI and their family caregivers were recruited to participate in the DEMA intervention over 6 biweekly sessions. Data were collected pre-and at 1 week and 3 months postintervention completion rates indicated the program and study procedures were well accepted. Qualitative and quantitative finding indicated positive trends in meaningful activity performance and maintenance of health-related outcomes, as well as high program satisfaction. The DEMA intervention is potentially promising but needs further testing in a randomized clinical trial.
The specific aims of this study were to (a) identify relationships among care-giving stress, caregivers’ functional ability, and number of self-care behavior responses to physical and psychological ...symptoms in caregivers of persons with dementia and (b) examine the mediating function of functional ability in the relationship between caregiving stress and self-care behavior response to symptoms. A correlational, cross-sectional design was used, and a survey was mailed to 99 caregivers. The survey questionnaire contained items about demographics, caregiving stress, functional ability, and self-care behavior. The results indicate that caregivers who reported higher levels of caregiving stress had poorer self-rated health, poorer physical function, more symptoms, high levels of depressed mood, and more self-care behaviors. Caregiving stress was indirectly related to self-care behavior response to symptoms through functional ability, which suggests a need for developing early interventions to enhance the functional ability and self-care behaviors in response to some caregivers’ symptoms.
The objective of the study was to describe and compare cost estimates for a pilot study of the Daily Enhancement of Meaningful Activity intervention for persons with mild cognitive ...impairment-caregiver dyads.
The increasing complexity of the healthcare system and rising healthcare costs have forced nurse scientists to find ways to effectively improve healthcare quality and control cost, but no studies have examined costs for new programs that target persons with mild cognitive impairment-caregiver dyads.
Pilot study data were used to develop a cost template and calculate the cost of implementing the Daily Enhancement of Meaningful Activity.
Mean cost per dyad was estimated to be $1327.97 in the clinical setting, compared with $1069.06 if a telephone delivery mode had been used for 4 of the 6 face-to-face sessions. This difference was largely due to transportation-related expenses and staff cost.
: Daily Enhancement of Meaningful Activity should be evaluated further with larger and more diverse samples as a technology-delivered health promotion program that could reduce costs.
Background:Caregivers of persons with dementia are stressed. Stressors not related to care recipients’ needs impact caregiver outcomes, yet are seldom reported. The purpose of this study was to ...report the most stressful events experienced by spouse caregivers of older adults with Alzheimer s disease during a 6-month period.
Methods:31 caregivers completed the Most Stressful Event form, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Revised Memory Behavioral Problem Checklist (R-MBPC). Fisher’s exact test and two-sample t-test were used to compare Most Stressful Events between caregivers. ANOVA model tested whether the PHQ-9 and R-MBPC subscales differed by stressor.
Results:Caregivers reported no stressors 21.5% of the time, 1-2 stressors 25% of the time, and 3 stressors 53% of the time with 318 stressors reported in total. Care recipient needs (30.2%), caregiver needs (26.7%), and decision-making (16.7%) were the most frequently reported stressors. Using a mixed effects model, there were associations between the Most Stressful Events and depression (p = 0.016), mobility (p = 0.024) and caregiver issues (p = 0.009) subscales of R-MBPC.
Conclusion:Results can be used to develop targeted intervention and support strategies for spouse caregivers experiencing non-caregiving related stressorsas well as the traditional challenges with caregiving related issues.
The purpose of this paper is to describe commonalities of the lived experience of being a spouse caregiver of a person with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The Colaizzi method of empirical ...phenomenology was used for inter-viewing and analyzing data obtained from 10 spouse caregivers of persons with MCI. Four major themes were found and labeled: (a) Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together-There Really is Something Wrong; (b) A Downward Spiral into a World of Silence; (c) Consequences to Caregivers of Living in a World of Silence; (d) Taking Charge of Care. The findings of this study provided rich data to guide interventions to help caregivers to improve their awareness of MCI, gain new information and skills to deal more effectively with and adjust to the caregiving of their spouse with MCI over the long-term.
BACKGROUND: Most caregiving intervention studies have focused on reducing caregiver depression. Little is known about how caregivers manage their own symptoms, particularly caregivers with high ...depressed mood. OBJECTIVES: To compare caregiving stress, health status, physical function, symptom presence and severity, and self-care behaviors in family caregivers with high and low depressed mood. STUDY DESIGN: This study used a cross-sectional design. RESULTS: Caregivers with high depressed mood reported higher levels of caregiving stress, experienced more symptoms and more symptom severity, and had more physical performance difficulty than those caregivers with low depressed mood. However, they did not report a higher rate of asking for professional help per symptom. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for developing outreach programs and coordinating information to encourage caregivers to address their own symptoms, identify services available in the community, and learn how to access them.
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